1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable radiotelephone apparatus, particularly a cellular phone, having extensible and retractable electrical wiring for the user's earpiece-speaker and a microphone that can be positioned on the user for hands-free use of the phone.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,656 to Thornton discloses a cellular phone with an extensible and retractable cord connecting it to a handset which has the usual speaker enabling the user to hear the voice of the person to whom he or she is speaking and a microphone into which the user speaks. A spring-operated cord retraction mechanism located inside the phone housing has a one-way lock enabling the cord to be pulled out and then automatically locking it in its pulled-out position for use of the handset in a phone call. A manually-operated release for the lock device enables the cord retraction mechanism to retract the cord into the phone housing after the user is finished with the phone call.
The following U.S. patents show cellular phone headsets or other unitary devices with a microphone and an earpiece-speaker that communicate with the user's cellular phone in various ways:
Hahn et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,825—radio communication;
Vangarde U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,812 and Hwang U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,369—electrical wiring;
Guenther U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,222—either electrical wiring or sound tubing from the microphone to the cell phone, and sound tubing from the phone to the user's earpiece-speaker; and
Chan U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,689—sound tubes between the cellular phone and both the microphone and the earpiece-speaker.